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 1956
Indianapolis 500® Car#
19 Rodger Ward
"Filter Queen Special"
Rodger Ward's career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
began in 1951, when his car broke, and he placed 27th.
Ward persevered, but his Speedway career seemed beset by
mechanical misfortunes, and through 1955 he never finished a
500. 
For the 1956 Indy 500, Ward hooked up with car owner Ed
Walsh and chief mechanic Harry Stevens to drive the Kurtis
Kraft KK500C "Filter Queen Special." Ward qualified
the car on the first Saturday of qualifying at 141.171 mph,
good for a 15th place starting spot in the field.
From the beginning of the 1956 Indy 500, Ward ran steadily,
and by the 150-mile mark he was running in 8th
place, behind Johnny Parsons, Pat Flaherty, Bob Sweikert, Pat
O'Connor, Don Freeland, Tony Bettenhausen, Jimmy Bryan, and
Dick Rathmann. Through the pit stops, Ward remained in the top
ten, and he was still in 8th as the race reached
its halfway mark.
At 400 miles in, Ward hung onto 8th,
but with just twenty laps to go he had edged forward one place
to 7th. Ward finished the race in 8th
place. Pat Flaherty, driving the first Watson Roadster, won
the 1956 Indy 500 with a speed of 128.490 mph. Ward was
credited with a speed of 124.990, good enough to earn him
membership in the famed "100 Mile An Hour Club."
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